A man has died after falling and being trapped under a pontoon boat in Quebec

SAINTE-ANNE-DE-SOREL, QUE. -- A man lost his life in a horrific boating accident Saturday evening in Sainte-Anne-de-Sorel, Monteregie, an hour northeast of Montreal.

Emergency services were notified at approximately 5:30 p.m. that a man on a pontoon boat had fallen into the St. Lawrence River and was seriously injured.

"The man on the boat had fallen, possibly due to a wave. He found himself under the boat and was seriously injured by the motor propeller," said Surete du Quebec (SQ) spokesperson Audrey-Anne Bilodeau.

When help arrived, other boaters had already begun resuscitation manoeuvres on the man in his 50s, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital.

"Obviously, an investigation is underway surrounding this fall," said the SQ spokeswoman.

-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on July 11, 2021.